


I’ve been waiting on your eyes to set in mine

by voices_in_my_head



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: (Brett's the idiot), (omg I finally get to use this tag), Brett Talbot & Lori Talbot Live, Didn't Know They Were Dating, Mostly Canon Compliant, except one of them did know, takes place a couple months after canon, the other was just an idiot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:28:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26953624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voices_in_my_head/pseuds/voices_in_my_head
Summary: "So if Brett is going to apologize to Liam, he isn’t going to do a half-assed job of it. He isn’t going to do it so Liam is forced to accept because he has to, to not create attrition in the pack.Buddha also said that once a person apologizes, the other is obliged to accept it and forgive. But Liam isn’t a Buddhist and Brett finds that he genuinely does want to be forgiven; genuinely wants him and Liam to move on from this.So Brett plans, and on a regular Tuesday night, finds himself holding a bright bouquet of sunflowers mixed with some other white ones that he doesn’t know the name of, but don’t smell all too strongly, ringing the Dunbar’s doorbell."
Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Brett Talbot
Comments: 13
Kudos: 54





	I’ve been waiting on your eyes to set in mine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Laurincia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laurincia/gifts).



> For Laurincia, who said something like "I wish Brett and Liam had had a chance to solve things" and I... ran with it.
> 
> Enjoy :)

Brett, like pretty much everyone, doesn’t particularly like apologizing. Sure, he can do the empty ones after he’s accidentally bumped into someone on the street and he can do the smirking ones after throwing someone on the ground during a lacrosse game. But an actual meaningful one? Like that time he’d accidentally stepped on one of Lori’s dolls and broken it?

What he mostly remembered from that had been sullenly saying _“I didn’t mean to”_ while Lori yelled at him _“but you still broke it!”_

Satomi (and he still feels a pang thinking her name, is sure it’s never going to stop, doesn’t really want it to, anyway) had been the one to find them like that, the youngest members of the pack at the time.

_“Sometimes we do things that hurt others without meaning to, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t end up hurting them.”_

Brett, a brat even at twelve, had just continued to brood and repeated, _“it was an accident.”_

_“But are you genuinely sorry?”_

Brett hadn’t answered right away, knowing that if he lied, Satomi could tell. And besides, while he was still unsure on this whole Buddhism thing, which Satomi didn’t really force on them besides the belief that they shouldn’t hurt or kill someone unless absolutely necessary, he’d still been studying it and the Fourth Precept was all about being truthful and, not only that, but using speech to benefit others, not just for one self.

So Brett had finally sighed and said, _“I am”_ , turned to Lori and genuinely said _“I’m sorry for breaking your doll.”_

Lori had stared at him for a couple seconds, broken doll still dangling from a hand, quickly glanced at Satomi, who’d been looking between the two of them with a relaxed stance, and turned back to Brett. She’d given him a small smile, _“thanks.”_

And that had been it. Brett couldn’t even remember anymore if he’d gone on to play with Lori or something else, but that was a memory that never quite left him.

And while Brett hadn’t exactly followed that Precept on the straight and narrow over the years, he never really forgot it either, or any of them.

He still doesn’t know if he’d consider himself a full-on Buddhist; he isn’t even sure what exactly it means to find enlightenment, but it had been an important part of his life since he and Lori had been kids and lost their parents.

And Buddhism, of course, talks about apology as well. How a sincere one, without reservation or self-justification, is one of the higher forms of generosity.

Brett doesn’t exactly consider himself a generous person, or altruistic or, really, _good_ , in the true sense of the word. He isn’t evil, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t done bad things.

The thing is, Brett is pretty sure he can get away with not apologizing to Liam about all the shit he put on him when he was in Davenfort (and did to him), or get away with a simple _“sorry about it all”_ and a handshake, now that they’re in the same pack and can’t really go around pissing each other off.

Annoying each other is one thing, but Scott expects them to act responsibly, to not start a petty argument that develops in violence and Brett finds that he doesn’t mind it all that much. Liam is… different than he’d been when he was younger.

And that, really, is the crux of the matter. Because Liam had been pretty angry all the time back then, but he hadn’t been a bully, he hadn’t hurt anyone without provocation and even then, he was more likely to hurt someone’s propriety than straight up go after someone. He didn’t throw the first punch unless provoked.

So even if he is different now, it doesn’t mean that he’d been bad back then. It doesn’t mean that Brett had had good reasons to hurt him.

He’d just been angry, afraid of losing his and Lori’s scholarship if the team didn’t do well and, if he was honest, had enjoyed the power. Which makes him feel very much ashamed of himself.

So if Brett is going to apologize to Liam, he isn’t going to do a half-assed job of it. He isn’t going to do it so Liam is forced to accept because he has to, to not create attrition in the pack.

Buddha also said that once a person apologizes, the other is obliged to accept it and forgive. But Liam isn’t a Buddhist and Brett finds that he genuinely does want to be forgiven; genuinely wants him and Liam to move on from this.

So Brett plans, and on a regular Tuesday night, finds himself holding a bright bouquet of sunflowers mixed with some other white ones that he doesn’t know the name of, but don’t smell all too strongly, ringing the Dunbar’s doorbell.

He’d made sure that neither of Liam’s parents were home, not really wanting an audience to this.

Liam opens the door as he takes out a spoon from his mouth, and Brett can’t help but to sniff the air; chocolate chip ice cream.

“Uh?” Liam says, and Brett smirks, opens his mouth to say something like _“articulate as ever, Dunbar_ ” but then realizes that that would defeat the whole purpose of this, so while he keeps the smirk on his face, he changes tactics.

“These are for you,” he says and offers the bouquet to Liam, who’s still blinking stupidly at him. Liam grabs the bouquet with one hand, then turns his eyes down to them. He turned them back to Brett, back to the flowers, back to Brett.

“What the hell?”

Brett keeps smirking; sure, Liam might close the door on his face, but seeing him all wrong-footed simply amuses him.

“Wanna go to dinner tomorrow night?”

Liam blinks. “What?” he says in a low tone. Then he starts blushing.

“I’d like to talk to you,” Brett replies.

“We are talking,” Liam says and Brett would like the universe to know just how hard he is trying not to mock him for acting like such a doofus.

“I’d still like to take you out to dinner.”

Liam keeps staring at him for a few seconds, but Brett refuses to fidget. He’s been under Satomi’s (again, pang) scrutiny far too often to not be able to handle Liam Dunbar’s eyes. Though Satomi’s attention had never made Brett’s stomach squeeze in quite this way.

“Is this a joke?” Liam asks, irritated which, honestly, is a step up. Just a few months earlier and he would have been far angrier.

Brett almost rolls his eyes but then he feels a pang in his stomach; Liam is asking because he doesn’t trust Brett to come here with good intentions. And that’s on him.

“No, it isn’t,” he finally says, seriously. “I want to talk to you-”

“In a restaurant?”

“Look, Dunbar, I’m trying to do something nice here, ok?” Brett finally says, exasperated. What is it about this ball of anger that just gets on his nerves?

Liam studies him for a few more seconds, turns back to the flowers (Brett feels the urge to rip them away) and then back to Brett.

“Ok,” he finally nods. “Text me the address and time.”

Brett nods back and turns around to leave. He’s almost at the end of the walkway, can still feel Liam’s eyes on his back, when his name’s called. He stops and turns just halfway so they can look each other in the face.

“If this is a prank, I’m going to punch you,” Liam says and then closes the door. Brett just smiles, then shakes his head, chuckles and starts walking away again.

Yeah, this is off to a good start.

.

Brett choses a nice Italian restaurant, _Niccolo’s_ , which he’s gone to before, in dates, which they certainly always appreciated though, obviously, Brett isn’t thinking of that when he books the place. Just that he’s going to apologize to Liam, right, show him he’s serious, and what best says that than a nice place? It just wouldn’t resound the same if they were at a McDonald’s.

Brett doesn’t put on a suit, but he does put on some nice trousers, black, which fit him nicely but, then again, so do all his clothes, and a baby blue shirt, sleeves rolled up, and then a dark grey vest on top, just because he likes vests and almost never gets an occasion to wear them.

Lori whistles when she comes by his room, leaning on the doorframe with her arms crossed.

“Hot date?”

Brett rolls his eyes, “just hanging out with Liam.” He doesn’t really want to tell her what he’s up to; Lori knows the two of them have had a volatile relationship, to say the least, but Brett hopes she doesn’t know the worse of it and would like to leave it that way.

“You’re… hanging out with Liam dressed like that?” Lori asks, like what he said is hard to believe. What does it matter what he’s dressed like?

“It’s a nice restaurant,” Brett says, looking at himself in the mirror and smirking to himself. He looks hot.

Lori doesn’t reply and Brett eventually turns to her. She’s looking at him like… Like she does when he does something idiotic, which doesn’t actually happen that often.

Brett frowns. “What?”

“Nothing,” Lori says and smiles, something soft, but also amused. It is, again, not a look Brett is unfamiliar with.

“Whatever,” Brett says and rolls his eyes, knows he’s being childish, but no one brings that out in him quite like Lori.

“Hey,” Lori says and walks further into his room, “you look nice,” she says and hugs him carefully, so that she doesn’t wrinkle his clothes.

Brett bends down to hug her back. “I always look nice.”

Lori snorts, “you’re such a jerk.”

“Yeah, but my good looks counter it.”

Lori snorts again, then looks up at him. “Have fun.”

“Thanks,” Brett says and smiles at her, hugging her again, feeling grateful that they get to do this. And thinks of Liam, how he’d jumped after them on that night, how he’d pushed them away from the car, barely getting out of the way himself. And how angry he’d been afterwards, fully shifted.

_Beautiful_ , Brett thinks, even now. His heart does a jump at it but Lori doesn’t say anything, for which he’s grateful.

“Come on, I don’t want to be late,” Brett says and finally disentangles himself.

“I won’t wait up,” Lori says and smirks, almost a mirror of Brett’s one; she had to pick it up from somewhere.

“Sure,” Brett says, rolling his eyes. What the hell does she think is going to happen tonight?

_Not like you wouldn’t like if the night did go that way_ , a voice whispers in his mind but Brett squishes it. He’s going to apologize to Liam and that’s it. Anything else… well, he’s not putting the cart before the horse and all that.

With a final kiss to Lori’s head, Brett leaves, goes to his car, him and Liam having agreed to meet at the restaurant.

He thinks back to how Lori had looked unconvinced at him, like this night really is something else. But it’s not, Brett tells himself. He’s just going to apologize.

And if, eventually, Liam is capable of looking at him in another light… well, that’s for the future.

.

Brett smiles winningly at the hostess in _Niccolo’s_ , makes it even bigger when he hears her heart do a jump at it.

“I have a reservation under Talbot,” he wonders if she recognizes him from previous visits; it’s not like he comes here monthly, but he’s been by a few times and he knows he doesn’t exactly go under the radar.

“Oh. Your date is already here,” she says and Brett doesn’t bother correcting her; she’s a stranger, what does it matter what she thinks?

She leads Brett to a table in a corner, Liam waving when he sees him, his heart also doing a jump when he sees Brett, which he enjoys even more than when the hostess’ did the same. Good to know even Dunbar isn’t immune to his charms.

Liam’s wearing a nice maroon button down, which not everyone can pull off, but he can. Then again, why is Brett surprised? It’s not like Liam’s unattractive.

“Here you are,” the hostess says, waking Brett up from his day-dreaming. “A waiter will be with you momentarily.”

“Thanks,” Brett tells her, sitting down and sending another charming smile her way.

He can’t help but to hear her mutter _“why are all the hot ones gay?”_ but pretends not to. From Liam’s blush, he heard her too.

“What, no flowers this time?” Liam asks, trying for an irritated tone but falling short, only sounding nervous.

“I’m already paying for dinner,” Brett answers and Liam’s eyes bulge.

“You don’t have to!”

“I want to. I invited you, after all,” what sort of apology would it be if at the end of it he was like _“so, are splitting the check?”_

And the truth is, neither Brett nor Lori are going to have to worry about money for a very long time, if ever. He pulls his thoughts away from it, knows both he and Lori would give it all away in a second if it meant having their pack – their _family_ – back.

“Right,” Liam says and he’s blushing. It’s… cute. Brett has seen him wreck a car, and full wolfed out, ready to tear someone limb from limb, and yet, the same guy is also capable of looking soft and adorable. It’s unfair, is what it is. “You said you wanted to talk.”

“Yeah,” Brett starts but a waiter finally comes by, giving each of them a menu and telling them the specials. Brett immediately orders the carbonara; he knows it’s simple, but he loves it and doesn’t get to have it here all that often, what with pasta not being exactly the safest choice for a date. But this isn’t a date (Brett refuses to pay attention to the way his stomach clenches at the remainder), so he’s ordering what he wants.

Liam meanwhile orders the lasagna and then they just order water to drink. Brett also throws in some garlic bread, because why not?

Again, it’s not like there’s going to be a goodnight kiss at the end of the night.

“So, talking,” Liam reminds Brett, and he’s playing with the fork on the table, his eyes going back and forth between it and Brett’s face. Brett can’t help but to put a hand on top of his, stopping the movement. Liam is blushing again; to be fair, Brett can’t remember the last time they touched without it being aggressive or a life or death situation either.

“I want to apologize.”

“Uh?” Liam frowns, “for what?”

“For Devenfort,” Brett says and Liam’s face immediately closes up.

“Oh,” he says and leans back, reclaiming his hand. Brett feels a pang at the loss of contact, but carries on seamlessly.

“I’m sorry for how I treated you back then. And how I allowed others to treat you. It wasn’t right,” the words come out without stumbles, but Brett can feel his heart beating faster, feels a ball of shame in his stomach at just how badly he treated Liam.

Liam blinks, then looks away, to his right, to the full room of other people, mostly couples.

“I gave it as good as I got,” Liam finally mutters, turning back to Brett.

“Sometimes,” Brett says, knows they’re both remembering more than one occasion when Liam certainly did not give as good as he got. He simply… got.

Liam is silent again, then he sighs and passes a hand through his hair. Brett finally notices that while it isn’t gelled up, he’d put some type of product to keep it away from his eyes. It looks nice.

“I just… I never understood why you hated me.”

“I didn’t hate you,” Brett immediately counters and gets an unbelievable look in response. “Not personally.”

He doesn’t say anything right away and Liam keeps staring. Brett remembers the Buddhist way of apologizing, how there isn’t supposed to be self-justification. But he’s not supposed to be reserved either. Yet, the idea of putting his personal feelings out there…

He sighs, “you were an easy way out for my aggression.”

Liam blinks and Brett forces himself to keep talking. “And I was afraid that if the team did badly, that they’d take away our scholarships. Lori-”

“Only got it because you were on the team,” Liam cuts in. “She told me.”

“Right,” Brett says, wonders just when she got the chance or really, the reason why that was brought up in the first place. But he quickly lets that thought go. “But that doesn’t change what I did. It doesn’t make it right.”

Liam blinks, putting a hand back on top of the table, no longer fidgeting. “No, it doesn’t.”

Brett’s stomach clenches at that and he has to remind himself that Liam not accepting his apology, not forgiving him, was always a chance.

“I forgive you,” Liam says and Brett can’t help but to stare at him, knows that he has an open look in his face that he doesn’t usually allow himself. Liam gives him a small smile, “I forgave you a long time.”

Brett feels his throat go dry, doesn’t really know what to say. Finally, he forces out, “so we can… move forward?”

Liam stares at him for a few seconds, blushing again, his heart beating faster and Brett has no idea what it is he’s thinking, but he hopes it’s something good.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Good,” Brett says and smiles, reaches forward to squeeze his hand once before letting go. Then their food arrives and the conversation moves on to lighter subjects; how the older pack members are doing in college, the weirdest speeches Liam has heard from Coach Finstock, Lori’s latest painting.

It’s good. Relaxing. Brett finds that he’s genuinely happy, here with Liam, and that he truly feels like a weight is off his shoulders. He vows to keep this up, to be better, make sure that Liam doesn’t ever have a reason to regret his forgiveness.

He’s going to be a good friend to Liam Dunbar, Brett promises himself. From the way Liam laughs during the meal, how he even hugs him at the end of the night, before they each drive their own way back, Brett thinks he won’t mind it either.

He smiles the whole way home.

.

It takes a few days after the dinner for Brett and Liam to see each other again, which isn’t exactly surprising. Even though they’re now part of the same pack, they still go to different schools and without Scott there to get everyone together at his place, the pack coming together doesn’t happen as often.

Brett and Lori, despite having been fully accepted, are still the outsiders. They didn’t even fight the hunters, Brett too weak to do it, still recovering from the wolfsbane, Lori staying behind to protect him (and because he’d rather saw off his own arm than have her go to war without him) and he knows that no one holds that against them, but there’s still a barrier there.

Still, Brett is thankful. The idea of him and Lori being omegas… The only other option had been to go look for another pack, neither Brett nor Lori having been part of the succession Alpha line for Satomi’s pack. No one had ever thought this could happen…

So not spending time with the younger members of the pack, or any of them, really, isn’t surprising. Liam texting Brett to ask if he wants to hang out at his place on Sunday afternoon and play videogames… A bit more surprising. The good kind, though.

Brett answers back with an affirmative, can’t help but to add _“prepare to eat my dust”_ with a tongue sticking out emoji at the end.

Liam answers back with _“in your wishes, Talbot”_ and it feels… normal.

So Saturday comes around and Brett drops Lori at a friend’s (his heart squeezes when the door opens and a girl excitedly says her name, genuinely happy to see her) and then goes to the Dunbar residence.

He’d had a chance to live here. Liam had offered his house after all the fighting was done, had said he was sure he could convince his parents to let him and Lori have their guest room. Melissa McCall had made a similar offer, and even the Sheriff, whose son had already left for FBI training, but despite having lived with adults all their lives, the fact was that no one in Satomi’s pack had ever tried to replace their parents.

And Brett knew none of the adults offering their houses to them was thinking of that, but the idea of suddenly having parent figures… It had made Brett’s heart clench, and not in a good way. It was something he wanted, but there was still something keeping him away from it.

So they’d declined, but still gotten an apartment closer to most of the pack’s place than Devenfort, definitely not interested in staying in one of the big houses Satomi had owned.

Brett pushes those thoughts away as he rings the doorbell, balancing a carton box in the other hand.

It takes barely thirty seconds before Liam is opening the door, for some reason… blushing?

“Hey,” he says and his voice sounds normal. Brett uses his unoccupied hand to wave.

“Hey. I brought cupcakes.”

Liam quickly looks down at the box before he looks back up at Brett’s face.

“Did you make them?”

Brett laughs; it’s not that he doesn’t enjoy cooking, but spending several hours doing something that he can just pay to get somewhere else without all the bother? Yeah, he’d rather do that.

“No, I got it from Anna’s.”

“She makes the best cupcakes,” Liam says and Brett laughs again, something light. He can’t help but to notice the way Liam’s eyes turn down to look at his mouth, but stamps down on the way his heart squeezes at that. _Keep your head in the game, Talbot._

“She does,” Brett says and Liam is still… Just standing there. Brett moves his weight from one foot to another, not in a nervous gesture, just because. “So, are you going to let me in?”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Liam says and it’s cute how nervous he is. Then Brett thinks that he’s probably nervous because this is the first time the two of them are hanging out together, just the two of them. And why wouldn’t Liam be nervous?

Brett still has to prove himself, that he was being honest with his apology. That he’s going to do better.

Liam moves back so that Brett can enter, closing the door behind him. “You didn’t have to bring anything.”

“I know, I wanted to. And you have a sweet tooth, right?” Brett asks, having turned around so they’re staring at each other.

Liam blinks, “yeah. How did you know that?”

Brett shrugs, pretending that he’s all nonchalant. “I remember you eating chocolate bars before games.”

“Oh,” Liam says and then blushes. Brett wonders if he shouldn’t have said anything, if it’s something Liam doesn’t like said out loud, though why exactly that would be, Brett has no idea. “I didn’t know you’d noticed.”

“I notice more than you think, Dunbar,” Brett says. He’s a werewolf, honestly. Noticing a guy is eating chocolates in the team bus isn’t exactly beyond his capabilities.

“Right,” Liam says, still blushing, heart beating strong and fast in his chest. “Let’s take those to the kitchen. My mom will kill me if I don’t save her one.”

Brett smiles at Liam’s back as they go through the dining room to the kitchen.

It has a very homey feeling, still smells strongly of food. Last night someone – Brett is going to guess Liam’s mother, the smell of a sweet perfume almost as strong as the food one – made Bolognese.

Brett puts the box down on a counter and Liam immediately opens it.

Brett got them six cupcakes, all different flavors.

“What’s your favorite?” Liam asks, moving to a cupboard and stretching to get two plates. Brett resolutely does not stare at the patch of skin at the end of Liam’s back.

“Peanut butter,” Brett answers, forcing his mind out of the gutter. “But Oreo’s a strong second.”

Liam finally puts the plates down, not having bothered with cutlery.

“Understandable. I like the mint one with chocolate pieces,” Liam says, grabbing that one, while Brett goes for the peanut butter one. Honestly, he’d gotten the mint one on a whim, thinking that maybe Liam’s mom or dad would enjoy it.

“Really? I’d think you’d go for the most chocolate-y one,” Brett says and can’t look away from Liam’s fingers as he pulls the paper fully away from the cupcake, dropping it on his plate. Brett finally forces his eyes away when he bites into it, removing some of the paper in his own cupcake so he can take his own bite.

Liam chews and swallows before replying, “I like the contrast.”

Brett makes a humming sound to that, not really having anything else to say. Then he can’t help but to stare because Liam is… eating the bottom of the cupcake? He’s getting frosting all over his fingers.

“What the fuck, Dunbar?” Brett says before he can stop himself and Liam looks at him, one cheek full, like a chipmunk.

He swallows noisily before asking, “what?”

“What the hell are you doing with that cupcake?”

“Eating it,” Liam answers, rolling his eyes, and then… repeating the same move.

“That’s not how you eat a cupcake,” Brett says, taking his own bite from his, like a regular person, getting cake and frosting at the same time. “See?” He asks, once he’s swallowed.

“Yeah, but this way, in the end, I get the most frosting with the least amount of cake.”

“That makes zero sense,” Brett immediately counters but Liam just rolls his eyes again.

“Whatever. You’re not the cupcake police.”

“You don’t know that. Maybe I’m undercover.”

Liam snorts, which makes a piece of cupcake fly before falling down the table. It’s disgusting, yet all Brett feels is fond.

“You’re an idiot, is what it is,” Liam says, continuing to eat his cupcake like a heathen.

“Careful, Dunbar,” Brett says and puts a finger on the edge of the box, pulling it slightly closer to himself. “If I eat two more, only two will be left for your parents. Will you be strong enough to resist temptation?” He can’t help but to lick some of the frosting on his cupcake after the last word, appreciating the way Liam’s eyes move down to his mouth once again.

“You wouldn’t dare. You’re my guest,” Liam says and Brett pulls the box even closer to him.

“Try me,” Brett says and Liam squints at him for a couple seconds. Brett wonders if he’s taking this ribbing each other too far; it’s not really something he’s used to. Sure, he has friends but he has to admit they’re pretty mean to each other. Just the way they’ve always been.

Finally, Liam picks up another cupcake, a salted caramel one and licks some of the frosting.

“Now it’s mine.”

Brett almost says _“you think that will stop me?”_ , thinks about how he’d like to lick frosting off Liam’s fingers, taste the salted caramel in his mouth, but just swallows a dry throat instead. He also notices how the Oreo cupcake is still in the box.

Liam is still looking smugly at him and Brett knows he has to say something, but he can’t think of anything to say. At least, not anything that somehow isn’t _“do that again”_.

Damn it, he has to control himself. Liam is giving him a chance at friendship and Brett is not going to throw it away by being unable to keep it in his pants.

So he smiles, rolls his eyes and says, “real mature, Dunbar.”

“I’m a mature guy,” Liam says, shrugging and finally finishes the mint cupcake, before moving on to the other one.

Brett finishes his own too, then grabs the Oreo one, thinks about thanking him for saving it for him, but knows it’s unnecessary. That Liam just did it to be nice, because that’s who he is.

Brett’s heart squeezes again at the thought. He really was an idiot for how he treated Liam. He wants to apologize again, but he knows he’d just be doing it for himself, to make himself feel better, not for Liam’s sake.

No, for Liam’s sake he just has to be better. Make sure he doesn’t throw this chance away.

Though that doesn’t mean Brett still doesn’t show him who’s boss at Mario Kart.

.

During the next week, Brett and Liam meet up twice more. The first is on Tuesday, when Liam invites him to go to the cinema – they watch _The Book of Henry_ , which Brett still doesn’t know how he feels about. Just that it was very unexpected, to say the least. Apparently, Liam likes unexpected films.

Then, on Friday, Brett convinces Liam to go to Sinema with him, but who only says yes if Brett accepts his friends – Mason and Corey – going too, which Brett sees no problem with.

It’s a bit of a different night; it’s not like Brett has never gone dancing with friends before, but usually they eventually part ways, finding their own dancing partners. But while Mason and Corey do come and go as they please, Brett doesn’t really move from Liam’s side.

They even dance together, Liam moving mechanically, which makes Brett dance a bit more goofily than he usually would, trying to make Liam not feel so self-aware.

The night is actually a lot of fun, even if sometime between, when Brett is at the bar getting them drinks, Mason shows up and says, “don’t hurt him.”

Brett knows he and Liam have been friends since before Liam was in Devenfort, so it figures he’d know what an asshole Brett was and so doesn’t fully trust him yet. So Brett just nods and says “I won’t” and gets a smile back. And then, “I know people who’d make your body disappear” and leaves just like that.

Damn, Liam sure has protective friends.

They get together on Sunday again, this time at Brett’s place, the two of them studying in the living room, Brett helping Liam with Biology, Liam helping him with History.

It’s… Fun. Relaxing. Brett doesn’t even notice the time going by until Lori is back from a friend’s place, asks what’s for dinner.

They end up ordering pizza and Brett’s heart squeezes at the way Liam and Lori talk to each other, genuinely friendly.

Brett is starting to think he’s a bit of a masochist. Why else would he keep asking Liam to hang out or accept his invitations when it’s clear he’s just falling harder and harder for the guy? But the idea of stopping spending time with Liam makes him feel even worse. He can deal with an unrequited crush. And if the way he’s caught Liam staring at his lips, how he hugs him every time they part ways, maybe it’s not actually that unrequited.

But for the first time in a long time, Brett finds that he’s too damn afraid of being mixing up signs to make a move.

So they keep hanging out.

On Tuesday Brett goes over to Beacon Hills High School to practice with Liam, the two of them continuing even after the lights turn off, not needing them to see.

Brett ends up sprawling on top of Liam after Liam came too close trying to defend the goal. Liam smells, like all werewolves, of the earth, but also salty, of sweat, and then something that’s just Liam. Unsurprisingly sweet.

Brett takes too long getting up, having to fight the urge to just lean down and kiss him. He swears Liam looks regretful once he’s finally up and offering him his hand, but tells himself it’s just his imagination.

On Friday, Brett goes to Liam’s place, parents out on date night, to watch _Moonrise Kingdom_ and the _Grand Budapest Hotel_ because Liam had commented something about a new film by Wes Anderson coming out and Brett hadn’t recognized the name and he’d taken it as a personal offense.

It’s not Liam who opens the door, but Theo, who’d moved in months back, when Liam had found out he was living in his truck, and smirks at Brett, like he knows something Brett doesn’t.

It’s not that Brett dislikes the guy; he knows his story, but it’s not like the guy had ever done anything to him or his sister personally. But the fact that Liam had forgiven him so easily makes something clench in Brett’s stomach, like the fact that he’d been forgiven himself was somewhat less special. Because Liam is simply that guy; easy to anger but also easy to forgive.

Brett doesn’t like pondering on that thought; it makes him feel like a dick.

Theo keeps smirking as he grabs his jacket from the coat hanger. Brett goes in while Theo goes out, yelling before he leaves, “be good, kids!” to which Liam yells back “go fuck yourself!” Theo has already left by that point, but Brett is sure he still heard him.

“Sorry about him, he’s a dick,” Liam says, coming from the kitchen and rolling his eyes.

“Right,” Brett says, can’t help but to feel jealous at the way Liam sounds annoyed, but fond. Quickly squishes that thought out, doesn’t want Liam to smell it on him.

“Come on, let me put the film on. You’re going to love it,” Liam says and leads Brett to sit down on the sofa, going to do as he said.

Brett sits close to an arm, putting an elbow on it, so he can lean his head on his hand and, after taking off his shoes, puts a foot on the sofa, knee bent up.

Liam sits on the other side, though it doesn’t take long before he’s all curled up in a hand, Brett’s foot underneath his thighs. It wouldn’t be long before he lost feeling in it, but who the hell cares. He isn’t moving for anything.

When Liam gets up to put the second film on, Brett takes the chance to stretch himself on the coach, feet going over the arm. He smiles when Liam turns back, at the way his heart goes a beat faster at the sight, gets ready to hear Liam being annoyed at him.

But instead Liam just makes this huffing sound and then… lies down, back to Brett’s front, his face below his own; Brett can smell his shampoo, lavender.

His heart squeezes at the sight. He can hear Liam’s heart beating, louder than usual, can smell his nervousness but also… excitement?

So Brett very slowly raises a hand and just as slowly puts it on Liam’s waist, sure that at any time Liam is going to ask him what the hell he’s doing, that he’s clearly gotten things confused, but instead he just… Sighs, content and even leans further back, so that Brett’s chest really is touching his back. Brett has to move his hips back; everything is in control right now and he’d very much like to keep it that way, especially around a werewolf who can smell any body change.

Brett knows Scott is affectionate with his pack. Maybe Liam, who Brett knows feels like he has to step in Scott’s shoes when he’s not there, feels like he has to be the same way?

Brett doesn’t notice he’s once again smelling of jealousy until Liam makes a sound, imagining Liam and Theo laying in this same position.

“It’s nothing,” Brett mutters, in a low voice, forces his body back in control. Liam isn’t with Theo right now; he’s with Brett. Brett just needs to… stop being a coward, make a move.

But not tonight. He doesn’t want to ruin this night.

So they keep watching the film, Brett’s arm secured around Liam. And if he can’t help but to inhale deeply against Liam’s head… well, Liam is nice enough not to mention it.

.

On Tuesday, Brett goes back to Beacon Hills High School, the two of them practicing some more. But this time, Liam calls an end to it just as the lights go out.

Just like the previous week, they simply grab their things and move to their cars, even though Brett always bring a towel and shower stuff. But Liam has never led him to the locker room and Brett certainly isn’t going to be the one to mention it. He can’t figure out if it’s a blessing in disguise or not.

They’re almost by their cars, Brett wondering if Liam would be interested in going to Sinema again, telling himself this time he’ll pull out all his best dancing moves, when suddenly Liam stops, making Brett turn to him with a raised eyebrow.

"So, are you ever going to kiss me?" Liam asks and Brett's brain... Stops. He stares at him, and Liam just stares back, like he’s asked a perfectly normal question, like he hasn't just pulled the rug from under Brett's feet. Hell, pulled the rug, wrapped him in it and is now dragging his body somewhere.

"What?" Brett asks, knows he sounds kind of idiotic, but how exactly are you supposed to react when someone who you've very much wanted to kiss for a long time but have decided all hints that the person wants it to has only been happening inside your mind actually asks you to kiss them? "You want me to kiss you?"

Liam looks at him like he's an idiot and either Brett suddenly woke up in some alternate dimension, or he's missing something.

"Uh, duh, we've been dating for three weeks."

Brett's brain decides to short circuit again. Actually, with his werewolf abilities, he'd heal from that, and right now he can't imagine his brain going back to normal ever again. "No, we haven't," he says which seems a bit like shooting himself in the foot, honestly, but it comes out before he can really think about it.

"Yes, we have," Liam says, frowning, and sounding exasperated.

"Is this a joke?" Brett asks, not really believing it, because Liam, despite his many faults, isn't cruel. If he found out about Brett's unrequited crush on him, he'd more likely either try to gently turn him down or... Something else. Set him up with other people so Brett could fall for someone else? Possibly. But not play with Brett's feelings.

"What? No!" Liam says, bringing Brett's attention back to him. "We've been dating for three weeks!" He repeats himself, like it'll make more second a second time.

"Ok, then, when was our first date?" Brett asks after rolling his eyes because he's decided the only way he's coming out of this with his pride intact is to pretend being completely unaffected. With the way Liam is turned up, he won't be able to capture all the ways Brett very much is affected through his senses.

"In _Niccolo’s_! You gave me flowers, asked me out, apologized for being a bully in the restaurant and asked if we could move forward while holding my hand! And I said yes," Liam is blushing now, and his voice comes out quieter in the last words. Brett doesn't know what to do with that.

He actually doesn't know that to do with any of this. He remembers that night, of course he does. But it hadn't been a date... Had it?

"You keep giving me gifts and picking me up and we keep spending time together. We cuddled last week!" Now Liam sounds angry, but also a little desperate, a little like he's trying to convince... Brett doesn't know. Himself, that he didn't see something that wasn't there? Or Brett?

Either way, Brett realizes that he's been an idiot. Of course Liam thought they were dating.

His heart beats faster at the thought. Liam thought they'd been dating the past three weeks. And he'd been... Ok with it? Suddenly Brett is having trouble breathing.

"Wow, ok, this is embarrassing," Liam is speaking again, but now he just sounds defeated. Brett's heart hurts just from the sound. "Can you just... Ignore all this? Pretend it didn't happen?"

"No," Brett immediately says, not consciously thinking of it. Liam stares at him just for two seconds before Brett sees him getting angry again, but he knows why he's doing it; because he's embarrassed and he thinks Brett is going to use this to mock him or whatever.

Brett suddenly can't quite breathe, while at the same time feels like he's breathing too fast. He's on the edge of a cliff, knows that this moment is significant, that he can't let it go.

It's that thought that makes him breach the space between them, Liam still staring angrily, with a humiliated blush on his face.

Brett puts both hands on his cheeks, bends so that Liam doesn't have to look up so much.

"I don't want to pretend this didn't happen because I do want to date you. I'm an idiot for not realizing we were already doing it."

Liam blinks and Brett forces himself to not hold a breath, to keep breathing like everything is normal, even though his heart wants to beat right out of his chest.

"You mean that?" Liam asks, hopeful but also unsure. Brett never wants to hear that again directed towards him.

"I don't think I've ever been so sure of anything in my life," he replies, seriously, and he can tell that Liam knows how much that means to him, how Brett is usually a chill guy, and who definitely doesn't say what he doesn't mean.

"Ok," Liam says and it might not sound that romantic to other people but to Brett it sounds... Like everything. Like a beginning.

"Can I kiss you?" Brett asks, out of breath, even though he's pretty damn sure he knows the answer, even though Liam has been under the impression they've been dating for the past three weeks (he still can't quite believe it and oh, that explains… A lot, actually. Like Mason’s comment, Theo’s smirk… God, Brett is an idiot).

"Ok," Liam repeats and as much as Brett just wants to jump him, he doesn't. Instead he bends a bit further down, slowly, letting his lips hover on top of Liam's, the two of them sharing a breath.

He isn't doing it so that Liam will be the one to finally close the distance; Brett just wants to savor the moment. But that's exactly what happens, Liam kissing him, making this sound into Brett’s mouth like this is... Rewarding, something he's been thinking for a while.

Brett pretty much devours his mouth. He wanted their first kiss to be soft, but how could he not do this when Liam is moaning, how his hands keep squeezing and letting go of Brett's waist?

Eventually, they do break apart, but neither lets go. Brett smiles down at Liam, hands still on his cheeks, back absolutely not appreciating this position, but like hell is he moving anytime soon.

Liam smiles back, then he groans, not the sexy kind.

"What?" Brett asks, frowning, though not very worried.

"I got you something for our one-month anniversary," Liam mutters and then blushes. Brett can feel his heart squeezing in his chest; how is this guy real?

"So?" He asks, forces his voice to come out naturally.

Liam glares, "so, now I have to wait a month to give it to you." Brett opens his mouth to say something, but Liam cuts him right off, "you didn't know we were dating the past three weeks, so it doesn't count. Today is the official start."

Liam is blushing again, like all this sentimental stuff is too much, but Brett is just... Over the moon. Then he smiles.

"Then I'll give you a one-week anniversary present."

Liam stares at him for a couple seconds. Then he drops his head to Brett's chest, headbutting it before simply laying it there. When he speaks, it sounds muffled, "you're such a dork."

Brett smiles, knows what he's supposed to say, but thinks it'll be too corny. Then he realizes he doesn't actually care, that he wants to be corny and sappy and romantic and all other things around Liam, with Liam. So he says it. "But I'm your dork."

Liam's voice takes a few seconds to reply, still muffled, "yeah, you are."

And really, who can blame Brett for pulling Liam's head back up and kissing him again?

**Author's Note:**

> Liam eats cupcakes like I do. Don't @ me.
> 
> I stand by "The Book of Henry" and, since it's october, "Summer of 84" is a great horror film. I just thought Brett and Liam wouldn't exactly be up for it.
> 
> All information about Buddhism came from research, not personal experience, so if you found anything incorrect or not accurately portrayed, please don't hesitate to let me know.


End file.
